BERLIN, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Europe’s biggest basketball clubs must find a way to work with the NBA, Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos said on Wednesday, a day after they rejected a proposal from the US league to join up for a new continental competition.
On Tuesday, the continent’s top clubs turned down an offer from the NBA, raising the prospect of a battle for Europe’s teams, players and commercial riches.
Sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the Euroleague’s shareholder clubs rejected a collaboration offer from the NBA in their meeting in Italy, though the door on a deal was not yet closed.
“All together we have turned the sport we love into a competition where the NBA, I repeat, the NBA, the top league in the world wants to invest and make Euroleague a part of their world,” Giannakopoulos said in a social media post.
“With huge respect but also proud of what we have finally … achieved we must together find a solution,” he said.
His Athens-based team are seven-time European champions and one of the Euroleague heavyweights. The Euroleague is eager to press ahead with expansion and it is unclear whether the NBA will submit a revised proposal.
A senior sports executive told Reuters any collaboration was unlikely to begin before 2028 because it would be difficult to organise a new competition in time for the 2027-28 season.
The Euroleague did not refer to the widely reported NBA offer in its statement but told Reuters on Friday it remained open to collaboration. Although the clubs rejected the current proposal, talks with the NBA could continue.
Giannakopoulos said there were teams in Europe that were not interested in the growth of the sport.
“They still believe that success is how much money you lose at the end of the year. Basketball is not a rich boys (sic) toy,” he said.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBA Europe’s managing director, George Aivazoglou, is due to speak at a conference in London on Thursday.
The rejection marks a setback for efforts to combine Europe’s established elite basketball competition with the financial and commercial power of the NBA, which plans to launch a 16-team NBA Europe league in 2027.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Kevin Buckland)
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